Assigstqe of one-half to



' (No Model.)

B. F. PURVIANGE.

AUTOMAI'IG RAILROAD SWITCH.

No. 304,664; Patented Sept. 2, 1884,.

Uni-rs BENJAMIN F. PURVIANOE, OF KEOKUK, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOCHRISTIAN HILLS, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD-SWITCH..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,664, datedSeptember 2. 1884.

Application filed January 21, 1884.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. PURvI- ANCE,of Keokuk, in the county of Lee and State of Iowa, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automatic Railroad- Switches; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, which forms parts of this s1 iecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in automatic railroad-switches;and it consists in the combination of three pivoted long rails and onehinged or pivoted short rail or bar, and a suitable mechanism forshifting these movable rails back and forth so as to connect with themain or the side track, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to construct an automatic switch which isoperated by the wheels of a passing train going in one direc-' tion, incase the switch has not been moved, so as to properly connect with themain track.

The accompanying drawing represents a perspective of a switch embodyingmy invention, the movable parts being shown in one position in solidlines and in another position in dot-ted lines.

A represents the main track, and B the side track. Upon one side of themain track is placed the pivoted or hinged bar or short rail 0, which ispivoted to the main track at D, and to the movable cross-bar Fat Gr.XVhen the switch is moved so as to connect the main and side tracks,this short rail is moved to one side, as shown in dotted lines. Upon theopposite side of the main track is placed the long pivoted rail H, whichis also connected at its free end'with the movable cross-piece. Betweenthe rails of the side track and the sta tionary rails of the main trackwith which it connects are placed the two pivoted rails I, which areabout the same length as the long pivoted rail of the main track, andthese pivbar.

(No model.)

oted rails I are also connected at their free ends with theendwise-moving cross bar or tie. Thus it will be seen that the switchconsists of three long rails and one short bar or rail, and that thefree ends of all four rails are connected to the same endwise-movingcross- Connected to this cross-piece, which is limited in its movementin one direction by a suitable stop, J, is the connecting-link L, whichis fastened at its lower end to the vertical crank-operating rod N.Vhenever connection is to be made between the main track and the sidetrack, the switch must be operated by some one, so as to make the properconnection; but if the next train which is moving along the main trackin the opposite direction approaches the switch, and the switch has beenleft so as to connect the side and main tracks together, there is nonecessity of stopping the train for the purpose of operating the switch,for the wheels of the cars or locomotive will shift the switchautomatically. As soon as the front wheels of the locomotive or carsstrike the switch, the outer rail being stationary and the inner railbeing movable, the stationaryrail serves as a fulcrum against which theflanges of the .wheels bear, and thus force sidewise, so as to move theswitch-rail of the main track laterally far enough to connect with themain rail at the other end. The whole movement of the switch takes placebefore the wheels of the car or locomotive reaches the short pivotedrail of the switch. Thewheels of the car or locomotive will always movethe switch just far enough to make a perfect connection with the maintrack before the movement of the switch stops, and as the flanges of thewheel and the forward motion of the cars or locomotive is sufficient tomove the switch'rails under any circum stances, it is impossible for therails to ever fail to connect.

own switching when moving in one direction, the switeh rails arefastened, and a suitable IO and hence there is no need of any care or atmeans for moving the bar, substantially as tention in this respect.shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I In testimony whereof I alfix mysignature e]aim in presence of two witnesses.

In an automatic railroad-switch, the com- BENJAMIN F. PURVIANGE.bination of the three long rails and one short XVitnesses: rail with therails of the main and side tracks, A. J. PURVIANOE,

an endwise-moving bar, to which the ends of A. J. MOGRARY.

